Yesterday, President Obama went on the offensive to ask America to help him make millionaires pay their fair share – 30% of their income or better known as the “Buffet Rule”. Obama said:
I want folks to get rich in this country. It’s wonderful when people are successful. That’s part of the American dream. But we have to understand the share of our national income going to the top 1 percent has climbed to levels we have not seen since the 1920s. The folks benefiting from this are paying taxes at the lowest rates in 50 years. That’s wrong. That’s not fair. We have to choose the direction this country will be going in.
As a Democrat pollster said:
If the focus is making the wealthy pay their fair share to reduce the deficit, or even fairness more generally, Democrats do well. If the issue is taxes, Democrats can have trouble. It’s a delicate line to walk. But here, Republicans are on the defensive because they have proven willing to sacrifice anything and everything to protect tax breaks for millionaires.